wilderness...thoughts

24 hours in a van. Through 6 states, surviving 1 warning from a Kansas state trooper named JC Smith and NOT surviving another from a local Colorado officer named “Bowman”, 7 DB high school guys, Scottie and myself headed for Wilderness Ranch. We were on a road trip, just us dudes, headed to the Rockies. John Denver and every country music song that you could fit into a 24 hour drive poured from the speakers as we sang our hearts out on the road. Van rides are always interesting, you learn so much about a person that’s nestled up in your personal space for that long. It was a pleasure to spend it with our high school friends. We talked about our families, our girlfriends/ wives, our days in high school; heck, we even got into a discussion about the definition of true FAITH. Several of us had watched the movie “Lonesome Dove” before leaving, so we aptly named our van (after a horse) and our GPS (after a woman) in the movie (you’ll have to watch the movie for the name).

24 hours in a van. Oh, the smell. Don’t even try to imagine. It was glorious! We stepped out into the fresh, cool, thin, Colorado air and immediately began packing our packs for the trip. The guys were excited, nervous a little, not knowing what to expect, but excited nonetheless. We were about to spend the next 6 days out in the wilderness. No shower, no toilet paper, no change of clothes, no ipod, no cell phones, no distractions, no noise. We were about to experience God in the glory of His creation! A typical day consisted of waking up with frost on the ground, eating breakfast, breaking down camp, packing your 50+lb. pack, walking in the sunshine in shorts and a t-shirt until lunch, sharing life stories over some pizza bagels, “meat and cheese”, apples, etc, packing up, walking in the rain/snow for a little while, arriving at camp around 4 or 5pm, setting up camp, having quiet time, eating dinner and looking at the stars or going to sleep.
The great thing about each day is that relationship was not only central but vital to survival. We each carried food for the week, we helped each other when we fell, we talked about life and sometimes we were all silent…COMPLETELY silent.

God was not only revealing Himself in our surroundings, but in the way we served each other. When one got sick, we stopped and helped lighten his load. When one couldn’t bear the weight of the pack any more, all of us took some of the burden on our backs. When Scottie got very ill on Tuesday and had to be evacuated, Jesus showed up in my high school friends. They all got up at 4:45 AM and hugged and said their goodbyes to Scottie. To me, it was a picture, a picture of Jesus’ love for each one of us. He who was without sin BECAME sin on our behalf. My high school friends, who I have had the privilege to know and become friends with over the past 4 years, were living a picture of Jesus!

One of the most beautiful things in the world is to watch God reveal Himself to people in ways they can understand. So God shows up in the Rockies. God shows up in the lives of high school students loving on their leader. God shows up in Scripture in such a way that, when explained, a student looks into your eyes and says, “That makes sense, NOW I get it!” It’s why we do what we do at Young Life. It’s why we pray and plan and show up in the lives of our friends.